


Forgotten

by annamariestark



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 00:57:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annamariestark/pseuds/annamariestark
Summary: Asra attempts to restore the apprentice's memories following their resurrection. It doesn't go as planned. With nowhere else to go, he seeks comfort from his oldest friend.





	Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> Another angst brought to you by Discord.

“Asra…” Anna mumbled. She felt as though she were drowning in quicksand. Above her, the room came into focus in dizzying streaks. A lavender snake hung from the bed frame.

“I’m here.” She felt a hand clutching hers, soft lips pressing to her forehead. She sat up slowly, taking in her surroundings. It all looked so familiar, and yet, it was foreign.

_Friend!_ The snake chirped at her.

“I… how… what happened?” Anna stuttered. “I… I can’t remember anything.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”

And so Asra began to recount Anna’s past to her. How he’d found her lying on the beach, abandoned and unconscious. How he’d offered to teach her magic, and wound up learning from her, instead. How he’d come home from a trip one night, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her as though she were the last person he ever wanted to kiss again. Every bit of how much he loved her. He’d almost made it to the argument before he had left Vesuvia before he noticed that her stare had gone blank, her eyes glassy. He waved in front of her face. Nothing. No response.

“Anna?”

Still nothing. He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently.

“Anna!” She blinked once. That was all. It was like her soul had been stolen from her body. Hands shaking, Asra laid her back down, covering her with blankets, showering her with protection spells, before making a mad dash downstairs and out of the shop. He paused only once, to lock up and place a protection spell, and then he was off again, into the night.

Muriel awoke to someone banging on his door as if they intended to tear it off its hinges. Grumbling, he clambered out of bed and stumbled to the door. He opened it to find Asra, wild-eyed and in a complete panic.

“It’s the middle of the night. What do you want.”

“She doesn’t remember anything,” Asra babbled, striding into the small hut as Muriel stood aside to allow him entrance. “I tried to trigger her memories and I… I broke her.”

“What do you mean.”

“It’s like she’s not even there. When she woke up, she said my name. Now she’s not saying anything. Doing anything. She just stares. When her eyes are open, she looks right through me. It’s like she’s just a shell. How could I have done this to her?!” He sank down onto a rickety stool, chest heaving, resting his head on the table in the center of the hut, tears coming in waves. Muriel sighed.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” And he didn’t, really. This sort of magic was way beyond any he knew of. Neither of them had known what to expect when Asra had hatched his plan to resurrect Anna, but surely, this wasn’t it.

“I don’t know what to do, Muriel. I don’t—” Asra cut himself off to stifle another sob, his breath ragged. “The Magician asked me if I was sure. I should have researched more. But it said we were low on time. Said it had to happen right then. I can still feel where it reached into my chest, ripped my heart in two. I held half of my heart _in my own hands_ , Muriel. I placed it into her chest, watched her take her first breath. I thought Anna would really have a new life, but this isn’t what I wanted for her.”

“Where is she now.” Muriel had learned through the years that when Asra was like this, it was best to let him get it all out. It concerned him, the way that Asra kept everything in until it reached a boiling point, but it quickly became evident that talking him out of it was not on the table.

“She’s home. Asleep, I think. I can’t tell. I closed her eyes before I left.” He sat up, wiping tears from his eyes. “Muriel?”

“What.”

“Do you think this was my fault?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“The worst thing is,” Asra gasped, trying to get a decent breath. “I still think I would have tried, even if I had known. And that’s so… so selfish. I just wanted a life with her. A family, maybe children. And now…” He was lost again in another fit of tears.

“What did I tell you before.”

“What? When?” The curly-headed magician stared blankly up at his friend.

“After she died.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Have hope.”

“Hope…” Asra choked out. “Hope. How am I supposed to have hope when the love of my life is so… lifeless? And because of me?”

“I don’t know. But you should try.”

“I don’t know if I can… but I guess I have to.”

A month passed. By this time, Muriel was used to knocking on his door at all hours. Every time Asra had a panic attack about Anna, he made a mad dash for Muriel’s hut. It was the only place he knew he could go.

“What is it now.” Muriel opened the door to find Asra, tearful once more.

“She… she said my name.”

“That’s good, isn’t it.”

“…She also called me ‘Master.’”

“Oh. Not good.”

“No,” the magician said grimly. “This is going to be such a long road.”

“Do you love her or not.” Asra blinked, completely taken aback.

“Of course I do!”

“Then you have to do this. Go home. Hold her. And have hope.”


End file.
